Mysteries with humor..

[fadedrose]

I love mysteries where the cops or other characters add a light touch or are downright funny. One new find for me is P. J. Tracy. Others are Carl Hiaasen, Robt Tanenbaum (the first 17 books are funny), James Doss (all but the first one is funny), William Bernhardt, Thomas Perry, and several others.

If you have any favs that fall into this category, please share....

[Mz Pip]

1. Harlan Coben

His Myron Bolitar series is peppered with a good dose of humor. The dialogue between Bolitar and his psychopath friend, Win can be downright :rofl:

[WCGreen]

2. Elmore Leonard

[abluelady]

3. Don't Forget Janet Evanovich. eom

[asjr]

4. Have you read her Plum Spooky?

[abluelady]

6. I Don't Think So

I've read some of her books about the bounty hunter in NJ and one or two of her others. Not a big fan, but love the grandma character she writes about. I think they are very funny stories.

[asjr]

7. I've read all her Stephanie Plum books and Plum

Spooky has me laughing out loud toward the end. You would enjoy it.

[yellowdogintexas]

24. that was hilarious, I was laughing out loud nt

[raccoon]

5. Marcus Didius Falco mysteries by Lindsey Davis.

Falco is an informer (private detective) in ancient Rome.

[pitohui]

8. i don't actually like most of them but carl hiaasen is special

most of the others i've noticed i don't recall them 10 minutes after closing the book, they are airplane books only

[tigereye]

9. Joan Hess is usually quite funny

also Reginald Hill if you are looking for very smart and witty British mysteries.

[Biker13]

27. I Love Her!

Good choice!

Biker's Old Lady

[fadedrose]

10. Slight change

Am reading a book now called SLEEPING DOGS, by Thomas Perry, and it doesn't seem have the kind of humor that his METZGER'S DOG had, so I have to warn that some books have humor, not all.

[YankeyMCC]

11. "The Automatic Detective"

by A. Lee Martinez

Exceedingly fun but not superficial at all.

[fadedrose]

21. I requested this one from the library...

Thanks . . .

[BlueIris]

12. Hello, person on my wavelength. Get the Jenny Cain mysteries by Nancy Pickard.

They are hysterical. They were published in the '80s/'90s. I just found them and the best thing about them is the humor.

[fadedrose]

20. I requested 2 of Pickard's books at the library

They didn't have the 2 earliest Jenny Cain books, but they are holding MARRIAGE IS MURDER and NO BODY for me ...

Won't be able to start them for a week, cause I have 3 books left to read from my last pickup..

Pickard has a few more books - Eugenia Potter, Marie Lightfoot, and two non-series. Have you read any of them?

Thanks, Iris

[BlueIris]

22. I haven't read any of the non-Jenny Cain mysteries yet, no.

But Pickard is a great writer, so I'm sure they're worth a look-see.

[leftyladyfrommo]

42. She's my cousin.

She had The Virgin of Small Plains out in 2006. That won several awards.

Just came out with The Scent of Rain and Lightening. Reviews have been really good. And it actually made it onto the NYT bestseller list for a while.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

13. If you've ever had any connection with theater or broadcasting, you NEED to

read Simon Brett's Charles Parris novels. He hasn't written any lately, but they're still available in libraries and secondhand stores. Charles Parris is a middle-aged failed actor who has to take any job he can get, and the digs at the entertainment industry are lots of fun, written in that inimitably dry British style.

[Forkboy]

14. Gregory Mcdonald's Fletch novels.

There's a bunch and they're all funny.

[Tesha]

15. Caroline Graham's mysteries.

Most, but not all, of her books are "Inspector Barnaby" stories,
now turned into a very-long-running British TV series.

There's usually quite a bit of humour in each of her stories.

Tesha

[Scout]

16. while not necessarily humorous mysteries per se....

i do enjoy the Anna Pigeon's sense of humor in the Nevada Barr mysteries.

[mvccd1000]

17. Paul Levine - Soloman vs. Lord

Some of those have had me rolling. Start with the first one in the series (Soloman vs. Lord) so you get to see the characters meet, then move on to the others (Kill all the Lawyers, Trial & Error, etc.)

Great series; I'm looking forward to more.

They're also a Florida series, so if you like the Dave Berry/Carl Hiassen school of writing, you'll get some enjoyment out of them.

[hippywife]

18. I think DUer smoogatz's books are humourous mysteries.

His real name is Jon Loomis and the books are High Season and Mating Season.

Here's his blog:http://jonloomis.blogspot.com/

[fadedrose]

19. Totally agree and am waiting for his new one....

As I recall, I even liked the paper and the font he chose...

HIGH SEASON and MATING SEASON are the titles of his first and latest books as far as I know.

[cdsilv]

23. Laurence Shames, Alan Wiprud, Robert Morris, Robert McLelland,....

Lawrence Block, Kinky Freidman, SV Date, Jimmy Buffet.

[fadedrose]

32. Am getting a couple of these authors - Morris & Shames..

Will try some of the others too...thanks for the recommends..

[matt819]

25. Westlake, Kaminsky, Crais

Donald Westlake's Dortmunder series. These are a hoot.

Stuart Kaminsky's Fonseca series.

Robert Crais's Elvis Cole novels. The Pike novels are a little darker, as is Pike himself, but Elvis Cole is a hoot.

[fadedrose]

37. Read all of Crais, not funny, but absorbing..

and I care about Elvis Cole. Loved his TWO MINUTE RULE.

[fadedrose]

38. Westlake

Gee, I'll try this guy Westlake - trouble is, he goes way back to 1970 to catch John Dortmunder from the beginning. How far back do I have to go to fully appreciate this character?

This link has all his stuff - what's your favorites?


http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/W_Authors/Westlake_Donald-E.html

[Biker13]

26. Charlotte MacLeod

Her Sarah Kelling and Max Bittersohn series are a hoot!

Biker's Old Lady

[Flaxbee]

40. MacLeod's books were wonderful! I also have found the Southern Sisters series by Anne George

to be exceptionally funny.

[fadedrose]

28. Edna Buchanan - COLD CASE SQUAD and SHADOWS

Nice dialog between cops, etc.... good mysteries

[fadedrose]

29. DEAD RUN by P. J. Tracy

Very good - author wrote MONKEEWRENCH.

[fadedrose]

30. LIVE BAIT by P. J. Tracy

Light humor, good mystery...

[fadedrose]

31. THE CAT DANCERS and SPIDER MOUNTAIN

by P. E. Deutermann

Good mysteries - scary with light humor . .

[blm]

33. If you want to go all in with that category.... try Joe Lansdale.

.

[fadedrose]

34. MONKEEWRENCY by P. J. Tracy, funny & good

recommend all 3 by P. J. Tracy...

[fadedrose]

35. DOG ON IT and THEREBY HANGS A TAIL

BY Spencer QUINN - both funny.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

36. If you remember the good old days when A&E ran a lot of British programming

you may remember Dalziel and Pascoe, a series about a crusty old Yorkshire cop and his younger, well-educated partner.

There are some funny moments in the TV series, but the books have some great moments, because Dalziel has a grouchy, raunchy sense of humor and isn't afraid to use it.

[Hamlette]

39. Lisa Lutz, the Spellman series is quite funny. Metzger's Dog by Thomas Perry is very funny.

Hiaasen is the best. IMHO.

[BreweryYardRat]

41. John Maddox Roberts' SPQR mysteries have a light touch.

Loosely paraphrased:

Fausta: "Did they flog you?"
Decius: "Offend Creticus yourself and find out."
Fausta: "Oh, it's such a bore when it's voluntary."

[mitchum]

43. "The Burnt Orange Heresy" by Charles Willeford...

actually any of his crime novels.
He was also a mentor to Hiaasen.

[dimbear]

44. Norbert Davis

The Doan and Carstairs seris by Norbert Davis. Free download at various places. Not exactly PC, but amusing.

[krispos42]

45. I just read a mystery by Jasper Fforde

"The Fourth Bear". It a genuine mystery story with fairytale characters set in modern England. Now I have to go read the first one in the series. The local library probably has it...


And if you want a mystery that is well-wrapped in mystisism, religion, sorcerous science, and an unending litanty of puns set in a magical parallel-universe Los Angles, then Harry Turtledove's The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump might draw your interest. I've read it about a dozen times over the years and I still find at least one new pun every time I read it.